HICCS 2025

This panel examines the interplay of politics and society in modern China, exploring collaboration and colonialism in Tibetan grasslands during early Maoist rule, the origins of Red Guard factionalism during the Cultural Revolution, and the symbolic role of automobiles in China's early industrialization.

Benno Weiner
Carnegie Mellon University, Associate Professor

Title:
Collaboration and Colonialism on the Tibetan Grasslands of Early-Maoist China: The Political Lives of a Patriotic Nationality Representative

Abstract:
Among the thorniest issues historians face when researching non-Han communities during the Maoist period is evaluating the political lives and legacies of members of the pre-1949 traditional elite who after 1949 were enlisted into the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front (tongyi zhanxian). These were people who under different circumstances would have been targeted by the new regime as class enemies. Instead, they were christened “patriotic nationality representatives” (aiguo minzu daibiao) and given positions as leaders of local and regional “nationality autonomous areas.” I have written about the Party’s ideological justification for opting, at least for a time, to preserve and promote non-Han indigenous elites (2020, 2023). Acting both as agents of the new state and through the charismatic authority of their indigenous positions, these figures would prove pivotal in the establishment CCP power across non-Han borderlands in the early years of the People’s Republic.
Borrowing from theorists of colonial collaboration such as Ronald Robinson’s “excentric idea of imperialism” (1986) and Uradyn Bulag’s notion of “collaborative nationalism” (2010), this paper explores the contemporary decisions made by one Tibetan “patriotic nationality representative” as a grassroots vantage point from which to consider the complex interplay of agency, belief, coercion, and resistance within a colonial setting that masked itself both through a transformative ideology and by demands for the active political participation of the colonized. Gélek Gyatso (1920-1969, T. gde legs rgya mtsho, C. Gelei Jiacuo) was a locally prominent monk-official from contemporary Qinghai province in the region Tibetan speakers refer to as Amdo. Most of what is known about Gélek Gyatso comes from official Chinese-language sources published in the 1990s and early 2000s that celebrate his life as an exemplary United Front figure. Unlike most of his contemporaries, however, Gélek Gyatso left a spotty but revealing archival footprint which suggests a more complex political subjectivity. Augmented by insights drawn from other regionally prominent United Front figures, this paper
considers a range of possible interpretations for the actions of Gélek Gyatso and other traditional elites in Amdo and beyond when confronted with unprecedented challenges but also new opportunities presented by incorporation into an extraordinarily interventionist, transformative, and ultimately colonial state power.
(Refer to the speaker's profile page for full abstract)

Jun Yang
Academy of History and Documentationnof Socialism, Department of History, East China Normal University, Junior Fellow and Assistant Researcher

Title:
Rethinking the Origins of Red Guard Factionalism in Beijing’s High Schools: Three Cases Studies at the First
Two Months of Cultural Revolution

Abstract:
Existing literature on the evolution of the Red Guards movement has highlighted opposing factions that violently fought against one another and produced sociological and political interpretations to explain mass factionalism. Despite significant differences, researchers generally attribute factionalism to the debates over the so-called “blood-line theory” in the late summer of 1966. However, this attribution has tended to inadvertently reproduce certain key features of the Red Guards’ own political understanding at the time. My research seeks to reconsider established interpretations of Red Guard factionalism by examining three long-neglected high schools (Beijing Normal High, Girls’ High and No. 65), which played critical roles in the early Red Guard movement. Utilizing newly available sources, this paper will focus on the role of party officials’ work teams in these schools and argue that by dividing students based on family class status and initiating antagonisms that pitted some against others, work teams had amplified fissures that already existed on campus and later exploded into factionalism in the schools. Following their abrupt withdrawal, students previously supported by work teams continued to use similar tactics for igniting the violent “blood-line” debate in the society at large. Thereby, the students activated preexisting interests and orientations rooted in entrenched social and political cleavages in China’s state-socialist regime. At the same time, Red Guard factionalism and movement developed and expanded from high school campuses to the society.

Chuan Wang
University of Alabama, Full-Time Instructor

Title:
Political Symbols on Wheels: The Role of Automobiles in Early Auto Industrialization in China

Abstract:
While acknowledging the vulnerable industrial foundation left after the civil war, the CCP began to build an independent automobile industry in the early 1950s. These initial years' car manufacturing was primarily a means to fulfill its path to heavy industrialization, which followed the Soviet Union’s model. Motor vehicles like trucks produced were primarily for logistical purposes, thereby preparing for potential warfare. However, this industrialization strategy did not readily introduce passenger cars to the Chinese people. While an independent automobile industry had contributed to the CCP’s industrialization and modernization, it had little connection with everyday mobility. Meanwhile, China issued the household registration system in 1958 to formally restrict population mobilization. In this paper, I argue that at a time when mobility was slow and restrictive, cars paradoxically became a political symbol of the party cadre’s socio-economic privilege and the CCP’s ultimate power. On the one hand, the missing connection between the car and the people, or simply put, the lack of a “people’s car” in the Mao period, demonstrates the CCP’s designer’s role in China’s automobility system. On the other hand, the role of the automobile remained open to redefinition as cars began to enter the everyday lives of the Chinese people.

This panel examines the intersections of land, culture, and identity in China, exploring clan-based governance in Shenzhen's shareholding cooperatives, the interplay of fengshui and tourism in modern China, and the spatial dynamics of identity and boundaries in Beijing’s military compounds.

Jing Cheng
University of Erfurt, Ph.D Candidate

Title:
Land property, Clan and Shareholding Cooperative Company Governance: A case study in Shenzhen, China

Abstract:
This study explores the complex dynamics of clans and Shareholding Cooperative Companies (SCCs) within urban villages in the context of land property changes in Shenzhen, China. Through two large-scale land acquisitions and transformations, Shenzhen achieved comprehensive urbanization in 2004, converting former rural collective economic organizations into SCCs, with villagers becoming shareholders. SCCs utilize collective land for a range of commercial activities such as industrial factory construction, property management, leasing operations as well as the sale of land development quotas. The economic benefits generated from these businesses are subsequently distributed among the shareholders according to the principle of equity distribution, forming a capital appreciation and income-sharing model based on land resources. Driven by the siphoning effect associated with Shenzhen’s high population density and the sustained wealth growth from housing demolition compensation under urban renewal initiatives, SCCs and their underlying clans have accumulated substantial wealth. Data indicates that the collective assets of Shenzhen’s SCCs amount to 3 trillion yuan, with the eleven most influential clans, distributed across nearly 400 urban villages, collectively holding assets valued over 1 trillion yuan. However, this rapid wealth accumulation and identity transformation have imparted characteristics to SCCs that distinguish them from fully marketized private enterprises. Clan remains deeply entrenched, with significant overlap between clan elites and board members. This phenomenon has profound implications for corporate governance and performance, worthy of further exploration.
This study examines a specific case of SCC controlled by a clan in Shenzhen’s Bao’an District. Through a comprehensive methodology that includes ten months of participant observation, indepth interviews, focus group discussions, and subsequent two-year longitudinal data collection from 2022, the study analyzes how the clan influence the SCC’s governance and business performance.
The preliminary results show the dual impact of the clan on the governance of SCCs. On one hand, clan networks cultivate and enhance social capital, thereby enabling SCCs to assert their influence in negotiations with state authorities. Conversely, the pervasive presence of the clan in governance structure, human resource management, and market expansion results in a contraction of the radius of trust, the adoption of conservative market exploration strategies, and a preference for maintaining clan interests and stability. These factors collectively impact the development of the company, presenting challenges in adapting to the competitive dynamics of a market economy.

Xuyan Pan
Lingnan University, Masters of Philosophy Student

Title:
The Wheel of Fortune Turns: Fengshui and Tourism in Modern China, 1890-1937

Abstract:
This study examines the interplay of fengshui principles and tourism in modern China through a close study of Mokanshan, one of the Four Great Summer Resorts during the Republican era (民國四大避暑勝地). Historically nameless and was considered free from fengshui influences, Mokanshan attracted foreign settlers in the late Qing dynasty, prompting locals to reinterpret the area’s geomantic significance. Through three developmental phases (1890-1937), this research explores how traditional Chinese beliefs were challenged and reinterpreted in response to foreign influence and the demands of modern tourism and contributed to Mokanshan’s transformation into a modern tourist destination. The study argues that the evolving narrative surrounding Mokanshan reflects the ideological shifts in early tourism development and environmental understanding, with fengshui consistently adapting and maintaining its influence throughout these transformations. Utilizing primary sources from Chinese and foreign archives, personal diaries, and contemporary newspapers, the research offers a nuanced understanding of how touristic activities intersected with local fengshui beliefs. It also examines the broader implications for local communities as they navigated the complexities of modernization and national tourism policies.

Nan Xu
Stanford University, Graduate Student

Title:
Permeable Borders: Walls, Identity, and Space in Beijing’s Military Compounds

Abstract:
How do the physical boundaries established contest municipal authority while simultaneously shaping and blurring the identities of those within? This paper examines this question within the context of Beijing’s military compounds (budui dayuan 部队大院) from their inception during the Chinese Communist Party’s entry into Beiping through the transformations of the post-socialist era. The culture of Beijing compounds (dayuan 大院) has played a pivotal role in shaping contemporary China, particularly through the spatial and social constructs they introduced. When the Chinese Communist Party entered Beiping (now Beijing) with the aim of forging a new nation, they demarcated these compounds by constructing walls. These walls were not mere physical barriers; they served as mediums that communicated authority, identity, and the boundaries of a socialist nation. Through the materiality of the walls—inscriptions, language, and the very act of enclosure—the walls shaped the lived experiences and perceptions of the residents.
However, these borders were never absolute. The interaction between the compounds and the surrounding city reveals instances of blurred boundaries, challenging the rigid demarcation envisioned by the state. In the post-socialist era, the wall’s transformation signifies a process of deterritorialization, reflecting the gradual erosion of enclosed space under the pressures of globalization and commodification. Yet, the persistence of multiple boundaries within and around these compounds suggests that deterritorialization is incomplete, fostering a sense of nostalgia and raising questions about the ongoing negotiation of identity and space in contemporary China. By focusing on the walls that enclose these compounds, this study explores the dual role they play: as mediums that construct and communicate the boundaries of a socialist nation, and as porous membranes through which the tides of globalization and commodification flow.

This panel explores the intersection of poetry, art, and aesthetics in contemporary Chinese culture, focusing on poet-artists in modern China, the influence of classical Chinese poetry on Feng Zi Kai’s comic creations, and the role of inscription in shaping modern aesthetic expressions in stone and script.

Paul Manfredi
Department of Chinese Studies, Pacific Lutheran University, Professor of Chinese

Title:
Contemporary Literati: Poet-artists in China Today

Abstract:
This presentation will explore the work of a group of poet-artists who are sometimes collectively named the “shipai” 诗派 (“poet’s group”), and who have been regularly exhibiting their visual art works in group shows since around the year 2010. More specifically, I am examining the relationship between this group and some of their classical precedents in the literati tradition. Broadly speaking, the literati tradition continues to find new expression in contemporary China, and the work of these poet-artists is a good case in point. As China grows more culturally influential in the global context going forward, understanding how ancient traditions are reformed and elaborated into more recent aesthetic trends is important. Beyond this, examining this particular group of artists who work in poetic and visual realms helps us to better understand some essential dynamics of Chinese cultural production of the past three decades, specifically in terms of the impact of market capitalism on creative work. Artists featured in this discussion include Yan Li 严力, Mang Ke 芒克, Lv De'an 吕德安, Luo Qing 罗青, Yu Xiang 宇向, Chu Yu 楚雨, and others.

Lok Yan Emily Tang
School of Professional and Continuing Education, University of Hong Kong (HKUSPACE), College Lecturer

题目：
畫中有詩：中國古典詩詞對豐子愷漫畫創作的啟發與影響
Poetry in Painting: The Inspiration and Influence of Classical Chinese Poetry on Feng Zi Kai’s Comics Creation

摘要：
豐子愷（1898-1975）是近代中國漫畫的奠基者，學界普遍認同他的漫畫創作深受日本畫家竹久夢二的影響，「漫畫」一詞亦從日本引入；然而，豐子愷也有傳統中國文人的一面，他上承中國文人畫的減筆畫脈絡，截取古典詩詞句子入畫，創作出大量趣味盎然、充滿詩情畫意的漫畫。本文分析豐子愷的畫作、創作理念及過程，探討中國古典詩詞對豐子愷漫畫創作的影響，以見出他在選取學習日本繪畫的藝術風格時，背後所植根的中國古典詩詞美學。

Alina Scotti
Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, PhD Candidate

Title:
Aestheticizing Stone and Script: Inscription in Three Modern Guises

Abstract:
This paper examines three, visual and/or textual representations of script by scholar-artists in late Qing and Republican China, all of which encircle a central, human figure into stone materials that further contain
carved inscriptions. First, it will consider an 1866 self-portrait by iterant artist Xuan Ding 宣鼎 (1832-1880); second, Ren Bonian's 任伯年 (1840-1896) 1886 portrait of the painter-epigrapher Wu Changshuo 吳昌碩 (1844-1927); and third, Lu Xun's (1881-1936) 1925 prose-poem Epitaph 墓碣文. The paper interrogates how and why intellectual and artistic subjectivity extend into and is absorbed by inanimate material (stone) and form (script). It will argue that an entanglement of human potential and stony script demonstrates a locating of modern identities beyond both metaphysical and material knowns. The two portraits embed the image of the scholar-artist into stone (an inkstone or a stone rubbing-like background). Antiquarian visual convention creates a contrast of black-and-white negative space that is broken only by accompanying painterly renderings of carved-in script, akin to stelae inscriptions and epigraphic calligraphy. Stone in Lu Xun’s Epitaph becomes a haunting yet stabilizing presence amidst the splitting of the literary form into something that is both prose and poem, speaking and inscribing, and this stabilizing ability forces the stone into a central narrative position. Each of these works raise questions of the simultaneous location of creative subjectivity in human form and in inanimate materiality, interconnected by script, thereby adding new dimension to the role of both script and of material in modern Chinese cultural history.

本双语论坛探讨中国古代文学与社会的多个层面。
This panel explores various aspects of Chinese literature and society.

Yu Hsuan Yeh
University of Tokyo, Ph.D Candidate

题目：
虛構的對談者：六朝之際「主客問答體」的衰退與「駢體議論文」的興起

摘要：
本研究旨在以「主客問答體的衰退」這一現象為起點，探討魏晉六朝時期《文心雕龍》等文論中存在的「駢體議論文」之出現，進一步思考此時期議論文作法的轉變，在漢文史上具有何種意義。
漢代的議論性文章多採用「主客問答體」展開，而六朝期的議論性文章則以「獨白式」為特點，即虛構的對談者「客」從文章中消失，議論文成為「作者／敘述者」的獨自演繹。從文章學的角度來看，客（提問者）在銜接、引導同一文章之複數論點、主題上，起著重要的作用。而一旦「客」從議論性文章中消失——或者客的位置外部化（「客」的位置與文章讀者重合）——則文章內部必須建立緊密一致的內在邏輯，才能構成連貫的議論文。這樣重大而深刻的變化，如何藉由一般被認為結構僵化、長於「描寫」與「讚頌」的「駢文」達成？正是本研究關心的主題。
在更廣泛的意義上，本研究將有助於理解漢文圈域內溝通與表達方式的變遷：透過對於駢體議論文的成立史考察與書寫構成分析，本文期望重審學界對於駢體的定見，進一步提供新的契機，促進吾人對於在19、20世紀東亞地區之「文明開化」過程中，扮演了重要角色的議論文的理解。

Bin Hu
Law School, Renmin University of China, Assistant Professor

题目：
略论宋代官用通语、方言的政治意义与社会功能

摘要：
宋代建立了在御前奏对、接待外宾等公务场合应当使用通语而不宜使用方言的习惯性规则。使用官用通语成为官僚必备的行政素养。这一规则得以建立，主要缘于保障政务信息沟通效率和准确性的必要。除了将语言视为沟通交流的工具，宋人认为选择使用何种语言表现了身份认同。从朝廷的角度看，宋人认为朝廷应以近畿方言为正音通语。故有宋一代以汴洛之音为官用通语，象征着本朝定鼎中原的正统地位。靖康南渡后朝野仍然强调汴落之音为“正音”，正是为了强化本朝绍继北宋正统的政治认同。从官僚个人的角度看，官僚在应当使用通语的场合故意操用方言常被视为个人身份认同的表达。由此看来，宋人眼中的语言不是随机生成的符号系统，而是具有政治意义、发挥社会功能的象征体系。宋人对于官用通语（“正音”）和方言的理解，构成了近代乃至当代国人展开语言问题争论的“前史”和传统脉络。

Han Chen
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Graduate Student

Title:
Human and Nature in Xie Lingyun and Wang Wei’s Poetry

Abstract:
The thesis will use the global ecology method to analyze the Chinese traditional natural poetry of Xie Lingyun and Wang Wei. This thesis focuses on how natural ecosystems and imagery relate to Chinese philosophy, politics, and reclusion. The thesis will compare natural elements in Xie Lingyun and Wang Wei’s poems, indicating the transformation from environmental politics to environmental reclusion. It will mainly argue Xie Lingyun uses Confucius in environmental politics and uses Daoism as a regimen to live longer. On the other hand, Wang Wei uses Daoism as a metaphysical cultivation and Confucius as moral cultivation. With the introduction mainly presenting the intellectual background and historical facts, there will be three chapters in my thesis. Chapter 1 will analyze the actions (you wei有为) and non-actions (wu wei无为) of the two poets. Chapter 2 is about the physical and metaphysical in the two poets’ reclusion. Chapter 3 mentions how the poets transform from environmental politics to environmental reclusion.

Chenxin Guo
Department of Chinese Language and Literature, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Masters of Philosophy Student

题目：
观看的隐匿与感知的分歧 ——唐宋闺情词中屏风书写之差异的性别动因

摘要：
词体文学写闺情的传统历来受到学界关注。但既有研究忽略了男性词人与女性词人所作的闺情词在意象选择方面的差异性。屏风书写是分析此种差异性的合理入径。作为闺阁中常见而重要的家具，屏风高频出现于男性词人的作品，却几乎不见于女性词人写就的闺情词中。这种差异背后关键的性别动因未得到充分探讨。本文以屏风书写为中心，围绕文本写作视角与对闺阁空间的感知两方面分别剖析不同性别作者的作品。
本文论述分为以下三部分。首先，以男性词人作品集《花间集》中的闺情词为文本依据，揭示男性词人将闺阁中屏内空间视为不完满存在的预设。这些合围的屏风内是等待并邀请爱人注入意义的封闭空间。男性叙述的空间逻辑也流露出男性作者近似“窥视”的视角。其次，依据《花间集》后男性词人的闺情词文本，着重分析“屏-镜”的共现所象征的“窥视-自视”双重观看结构，并结合宋代闺阁题材绘画中“屏-镜”结构的高频出现，探讨这种结构背后男性词人与画家的创作动因。最后，依据女性词人为数不多的屏风书写，论述这种书写背后关注物的实用性而非艳情投射的视角。同时，以女性词中最常见的具备空间划分功能的器物帘幕为对照，探讨了女性词人笔下另一种向外的互动式空间感知。